Today -100: October 31, 1913: Of ritual murder, slimy pulitzers, and possums

The Kiev ritual murder trial continues, with a debate between doctors over “whether there were 13 or 14 wounds in the boy Yushinsky’s left temple, the number 13 having apparently a Cabalistic significance.” The court decides not to show the dead boy’s actual scalp to the jury. Further medical testimony “described the difference in the Russian and Jewish methods of slaughtering animals.”

Tammany candidate for NY mayor Edward McCall has been making a big deal about Fusionist candidate John Purroy Mitchell’s supposed connections to Ralph Pulitzer and his New York World, talking about Pulitzer much more than about his actual opponent. He says that if he ever meets “this slimy Pulitzer,” “if I ever get my hands on him, I’ll make him wish he never had been born.” That’s a former justice of the state Supreme Court speaking.

Headline of the Day -100: “President Gets a ’Possum.” A live one, one assumes. “‘I am an old slave time darkey,’ wrote ‘Joe’ Farrow of McFarlan, N.C., the sender. ‘I heard that some one sent you a sweet potato the other day. Here is an opossum to go with it.’” I wonder if anyone sends Obama opossums.

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